(CNN) - At an education forum in New York Thursday, GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich called President Barack Obama's new student-loan proposal a "Ponzi scheme."

Part of Obama's plan would expedite a law that would forgive outstanding student loans after 25 years of payments. The current law is set to take effect for loans starting in 2014, but Obama wants to move it up to 2012 and change the number of payment years to 20, instead.FULL POST

New York (CNN) - Speaking at an education forum with three other GOP presidential candidates Thursday, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum took a dig at the campaign of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who was not at the forum, for suggesting Perry might pass on some debates.

"I would never skip a debate. I would never skip an opportunity to let the American public know what I think about these issues," Santorum said while talking to reporters following the Education and Election 2012 Presidential Candidate Forum, hosted by The College Board and News Corporation.FULL POST

(CNN) - A tea party group has a surprising and harsh urging for long-time tea party favorite Michele Bachmann: Quit the presidential race.

"It's time for Michele Bachmann to go," reads the first line of a statement from American Majority President Ned Ryun. His group operates in seven states, trains thousands of tea party supporters and is "liked" by over 371,000 people on Facebook.FULL POST

Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN) - Despite anemic numbers in recent state polls, former Sen. Rick Santorum emphasized his commitment to New Hampshire Thursday with an announcement that 83 supporters in the state would serve as his primary captains.

In a statement Santorum, who has called himself the true conservative in the GOP field, implied some political observers thought he might be too socially conservative for New Hampshire.FULL POST

Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) – A representative on Texas Gov. Rick Perry's behalf filed for his candidacy in South Carolina Thursday, and two more presidential hopefuls are expected to follow suit.

State GOP Executive Director Matthew Moore confirms that Katon Dawson, Perry's campaign chairman in the state, delivered to party headquarters the paperwork and $35,000 required to get on the Republican presidential primary ballot.FULL POST

Ever since revelations surfaced that the Florida senator had made a series of misstatements about his family history, a Democratic-leaning political action committee called American Bridge 21st Century has compiled other instances in which Rubio appeared to get his facts wrong on the same subject.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - As Democrats and Republicans on the "super committee" exchanged competing plans to slash the deficit, House Speaker John Boehner said he's opposed to the automatic spending cuts that would go into effect if the panel can't reach a compromise and is committed to getting a deal done by the deadline.

"I think it's important for the 'super committee' to meet its goal," Boehner said Thursday, making it clear any form of the so-called "trigger" to cut government spending is not acceptable.FULL POST

Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf testifies during a hearing before the Joint Deficit Reduction Committee, also known as the supercommittee, September 13, 2011 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

(CNN) – It was sort of lost in the headlines but Democratic members of the so-called super committee proposed some major changes in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid spending – something Democrats in general strongly oppose.

As part of their effort to revive the failed Barack Obama-John Boehner budget negotiations of earlier in the year, the super committee Democrats put forward a $3 trillion package in deficit reduction over the next ten years.